What did you steal for your film?

The tricky word here is "own". What you own is the
physical CD or DVD but not their contents. On a download you
don't own anything!

What you have bought is the right to play that track or watch
that film in private. Here "private" means so that only you or
your immediate family can enjoy it.

You cannot even legally copy it - not to another
computer, an MP3 player, a backup DVD ... or your film
soundtrack.

To play it to other people or to copy it legally
you need permissions.

It is difficult and very expensive to get
permission to use most copyright music on the internet.*

What you do at home is rarely a problem.

If you copy music and movie clips to a film and show it to
friends you have broken the law but no one is likely to
find out - or to worry about it.

But any showing at a club, competition or to another group
needs several permissions.

The laws of copyright allow artists, writers,
composers and film makers to treat their work rather like
possessions which they can sell or rent out to others.

They can also refuse anyone else the right to use it. Almost
anything you might include in a movie may be copyright: a
picture, poster, product label or film clip. So is most music.

Products are rarely a problem

For non-commercial films casual glimpses of
posters in a street scene, pictures on the cover of a book, a
product label on something in the background are no problem. No
one minds those appearing in that way.

If, however, the poster / book cover / product is
featured as a key part of the movie there may be
objections, especially if the film seems to bring the
product into disrepute - like the toy that becomes a murder
weapon.

It does not matter that you bought the picture,
DVD or product ... that still does not allow you to feature
it in a movie.

Film clips and music are a problem.

Even casual background use of music
or film may cause their owners to object.

If someone sings Happy Birthday in a
party scene, the rights owner (Warner/Chappell Music Inc)
expects to be paid. If a passer-by whistles a pop song in
the background of your documentary, or a brass band plays a tune
on camera - the copyright holders expect to be paid.

If the tv in the corner of a shot has a
movie running the owners of the film rights expect a fee.

If your video features
anyone else's work
- make sure you have permission to do so ... IAC can help

For film makers copyright and the licences required for any
public show are a real pain. But how would you feel if someone
else exploited your work for profit without permission or
payment?

(In reality most of us would be flattered
that our work was considered good enough! But if we made
our living by making films, it would feel as if someone was
stealing the bread from our mouths.)

* In the UK, YouTube has reached an agreement with the main
music copyright agencies, which allows most music to be used on
films uploaded to their website. The copyright owner may
sometimes refuse permission or insist on an advertisement being
played (by YouTube) before a video. The agencies concerned
usually only hold UK rights and so cannot agree to the work
being used in other countries. Many YouTube video are therefore
not available overseas.

Most of this information is
UK-specific. Laws and customs may be different in other countries.
Any copyright owner can refuse permission without explanation. This
can happen, for example, if the managers of an artist think a film
brings the artist into disrepute.

Pictures on this page come from Stock.XCHNG - top by Billy Alexander, bottom
by Philippe Ramakers.

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Art work by Tony Kendle.